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No matches found.Woman finds 272-year-old British coin while picking up litter
With the toss of a coin, Kemila Slade had good fortune.
While she and other members of the Pink Sapphire Ladies were picking up litter on a two-mile stretch of Neuse Boulevard, Slade found a 1739 George II farthing coin.
The fortune is not coming from the coin, but from Keep North Carolina Beautiful.
The coin, which was worth one-quarter of a penny when it was in circulation, is now valued between $6 and $15. That’s according to Jeffrey Joyce of THR & Associates. He is in New Bern buying precious metal, coins and antiques.
But Slade won $250 as statewide first place prize for finding the coin, which judges decided was the most unusual thing found during the spring cleanup sponsored by Pepsico.
Joyce said the coin is common. It was made in England. “Naturally the British have been around longer than us. Valuable money from them would be money from the 16th century.”
He said the most valuable old money is British or Spanish. U.S. money is just not old enough, according to Joyce.
Slade said she was delighted to find the coin and happy about the discovery.
“I look down all the time and find things,” she said.
The Pink Sapphire Ladies is a social club. Members have fundraisers for various causes, such as the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and Religious Community Services. Slade donated $100 of her winnings to the club for a future fundraiser.
Other finds across the state during the Adopt-A-Highway spring campaign included a boat by the side of the road in Mt. Airy and a paycheck found in Fayetteville.
The coin was found in April. That was the third time the club members have picked up litter on that stretch of highway.
Slade said the women enjoy the Adopt-A-Highway Program.
“We like to do things for the community,” Slade said.
Francine Sawyer can be reached at 252-635-5671 or at fsawyer@freedomenc.com.
| I would beg to differ with Mr. Joyce about his generalization that US coins are not old enough to be of any value. The 1739 George II farthing coin might be a common coin and worth little, but there are many US coins worth thousands of dollars. For instance a 1916 Standing Liberty Quarter in fairly good condition can bring the owner upward of 12,000 dollars. A 1795 silver US dollar sold at auction for 1,265,000 dollars in Dec, 2005. And in April, 2009 an 1804 silver US dollar brought in 2,300,000 dollars at auction. These are just a few of some very rare and pricey coins, but they are out there.
Everyone should get professional appraisals from two or more sources for any coin one thinks is rare and or valuable. |
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| D. Fournier - Jun 23, 2011 07:46:08 PM | Remove Comment |
